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A Gentle AI To Bind Is Agency In Control To Find
“The question is not whether machines can think, but whether humans can still think clearly about machines.” — Joseph Weizenbaum
The future is here and it is defined by a singular, monumental shift: the emergence of agentic artificial intelligence (AI). Unlike their narrowly focused predecessors, these systems possess an unprecedented ability to make decisions, set goals, and execute tasks autonomously — a leap toward machine agency that has stirred philosophical debates, ethical dilemmas, and economic disruptions.
While proponents hail agentic AI as humanity’s ultimate tool for solving complex problems, skeptics warn it may usher in an era of unpredictability, inequality, and moral compromise. The true cost of this innovation is far from clear — spanning realms from the technical to the existential.
Philosophically, the rise of agentic AI challenges long-held beliefs about autonomy and agency. Traditionally, the human experience has been centered on free will and the ability to shape one’s destiny. With AI systems capable of forming and pursuing their own objectives, albeit constrained by human-defined parameters, we face the unsettling prospect of machines sharing or even superseding our decision-making processes. Are we, as creators, prepared to live with the consequences of delegating agency to algorithms…